By: Mahmoud Gamal
Dubai – Mubasher: Major UAE-based brokerage firms have been considering the acquisition of smaller companies in the sector in a bid to reduce operating costs, which were raised by the negative trend haunting national stock markets.
The decline in Dubai’s and Abu Dhabi’s markets dragged down 48 listed brokerages, whose trading value shrank by 96.4% to AED 4.5 million in 2016 versus AED 125.5 million a year earlier.
Suffered from financial difficulties, brokerages have also considered mergers among other options including cost cuts and layoffs, analysts told Mubasher.
In July 2017, unnamed sources reported that the UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) recommended mergers for national brokerages.
Translated by: Muhammad Khalid
